Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Day Eleven of my Log of the Searcher Natural History Tour Around the Baja by Boat February 2, 2011

Oserving the Sunrise

It is now February 2, the last full day of the Baja trip. We continue southward toward the Gorda banks and added a sei whale to our species. We now have seen 19 of the 21 species that are commonly found in the Gulf of California and on the Pacific coast of the Baja.

Humpback Whale Fluke

Humpback Whale Underwaer

Short-finned Pilot Whale with a Fluke injury probably secondary to fishing line

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Short-Beaked Common Dolphins Leaping

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﻿﻿﻿ ﻿﻿﻿﻿Besides the Marine mammals that we saw there were also Manta Rays leaping .

We returned to Los Frailes/Cabo Pulmo to get some relief from the wind. We went ashore again to explore and bird watch. On the beach there was snowy plovers, that were mostly hunkered down to get out of the winds. B laid on the sand and crawled up so I could get better pictures of them. Being battered by the wind wasn't bad, however, the sand was being blown straight at me. I did obtain the picture I wanted.

I was able to see and photograph the Baja-endemic Xantus's hummingbird, which is endemic to the Baja and is an accidental visitor to the US West.

Here is a photograph for an naturalist Rob trotting back toward the boat, prior to us leaving for the Searcher

We had had excellent roast beef dinner for supper, and afterward everybody recounted what they enjoyed about the trip and what it meant to them.